Timing
by broadway89
Summary: TRORY, Tristan and Rory have been best friends forever, they each care about one another as more than a friend, but the timing has never been right. What happens when old feelings resurface and there is no one in the way? ON HIATUS/LIKELY ABANDONED
1. Lab Day

**A/N:** Ok people, I've started rewriting this story. Now I'm changing some of it, adding more detail to it, and a few characters to give it some dimension. I think that park of my issue before was that I went to quickly and didn't develop that much. Its still going kind of fast, but I've gotten inspiration back thanks to a certain friend of mine…

Anyway, the time frame shifted slightly, its not in the fall anymore. Mainly because its spring right now, and I love this weather, but don't worry some things still happen…

This isn't the longest chapter, but I'm hoping to update soon. Within a few days, and I do mean that. I'm going to stick to those promises, barring illness or computer issues.

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The bell rang signaling the beginning of the period. Everyone was wandering around the room, talking to friends, doing the homework at last minute, or just sitting in their seats waiting for the teacher to come in. 

Tristan was sitting in his seat arguing with one of his closest friends (and ex-girlfriend) Rory. He loved getting her riled up, and he always knew what buttons to push, she was adorable when she was angry. Rory was sitting on the mini-storage cabinet that was next to his seat and between the two aisles; she always sat there before class started, it gave her the opportunity to talk to him before the hour and a half of science.

Jack looked at his two friends arguing; if there was one thing that he could count on, it was that no matter what, Tristan and Rory would always find something to argue about. He shook his head, _those two are idiots, there's so much unresolved sexual tension (A/N: now known as UST) between them._ He saw Rory getting frustrated, Jack knew that she would lose it in about five seconds, _5…4…3…2…1…_

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT TRISTAN!" _Blast off._

Tristan smirked at Rory, her face was flushed from her frustration, he knew that he had to back off soon, so in his "charming" voice asked, "what is the point Mare?"

Rory's eyes narrowed as she glared at him, "the point is that you shouldn't criticize an amazing television show that you've never even seen! _The West Wing _is a great show with outstanding writing and an all-star ensemble cast, don't knock it till you've tried it Bible-boy."

"Ok Mary."

Neither of the two teens had noticed that the rest of the class, including the teacher who had just come into the room, had been watching them banter back and forth. It was a usual occurrence and most of the time Rory and Tristan were ignored, but every once in a while the debate got so heated that all eyes focused on them.

Dr. Brooks rolled his eyes, he would never admit it but Rory and Tristan were two of his favorite students. Tristan brought the comic relief to the class while Rory kept Tristan in line and forced him to get his work done.

"All right, all right, settle down." He looked at the two, "Miss Gilmore, Mr. DuGrey, thank you for yet another lovely bout of entertainment but I think it's time for Miss Gilmore to take her seat so that we can start today's lab."

Rory got up and walked over to her desk, Jack and Tristan could tell she was still fuming.

"Today we're going to be doing two mini labs, one on lenses and one on prisms. I gave the demonstration yesterday, but for those of you who have difficulty retaining the important details, the procedure sheets are on the lab tables."

He paused and looked around the room, "it appears that we have a few students missing today. In fact, Miss Gilmore it looks like your entire lab group is missing. Why don't you join Mr. DuGrey's group, perhaps you can motivate them to actually _complete _the lab this week…Ok people, get to work."

The class moved to their assigned lab tables at the back of the room. Tristan's group was at the table in the far back corner of the room, visible but not in Dr. Brooks' line of sight.

Rory sat down next to Tristan and started setting up the lab, about two minutes after everyone sat down, the room plunged into darkness.

"Don't worry its not a blackout," Brooks explained, "you're doing a lab on light, it's easier to complete in the dark."

Tristan turned to Rory, "and it gives me a little more cover Mary."

"shut up Tristan, I'm still pissed at you."

* * *

After ten minutes of Rory speaking to everyone else in the group except for him, Tristan was getting frustrated. When Rory reached across the table to get the lens she needed, her chair started to wobble and tip over. Tristan instinctively put his hands on her hips to steady her. 

His touched caused Rory to suck in her breath. As she sat back down, she turned and looked at Tristan, his eyes were filled with concern. She softly said, "thanks Tris."

"Don't worry about Ror."

The group continued working on the lab and finished quickly. After all the equipment was put away, they began to work on the questions and write up. Jack had gotten up to get Rory's and his calculator so that they could do the calculations, when he got back to the table he immediately noticed that Rory's stool was closer to Tristan's than before. As he looked more closely, he saw that Tristan's arm was around Rory's waist. He mumbled, "idiots…"

Rory looked up, "did you say something Jack?"

"Nope, not a thing. Here's your calculator."

Rory reached to take it from him and inadvertently moved closer to Tristan. His arm wrapped more tightly around her. A shock raced through body when his fingers slipped under her shirt and grazed the bare skin above her skirt. Tristan moved to take out his hand but then he felt Rory's hand on his, stopping him. She shifted; Tristan pulled her onto the bench he was sitting on so that he could hold her more easily. While she was moving, she unconsciously pulled her skirt down a little, exposing more skin.

The entire group, with the exception of Jack, was oblivious to what was going on; then again the group was made up entirely of guys. Jack watched the two, they were so adorable together. Rory was basically sitting between Tristan's legs and leaning her head against his chest while he had his arms wrapped around her. Jack saw Tristan lean in to say something to her, _but they couldn't be more oblivious if they tried…_

Tristan brushed a piece of hair away from her cheek, he whispered to her, "is this bothering you?"

The feel of his lips next to her ear, sent shivers down her spine. Rory smiled, took his hand, and intertwined their fingers, "not at all…"

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**A/N: Read and review, more reviews more motivation to write.**


	2. Author Note

Ok something happened with the story. The chapter I just send out is supposed to be the new chapter one but got sent to all of you as chapter 2. I deleted all the other chapters, so this note should come to you as Chapter 2 (hopefully). Click the "previous chapter" button to see the chapter I just sent. If you still cant get to it. in the URL, change the chapter number from /2 to /1. That should work.

Sorry guys

Courtney


	3. Confrontation

A/N: Heres the next chapter. Thanks to all the reviewers for their support, it means a lot to me. I intended on getting this out faster but last week was torture in school and prom was Saturday night.

Hope you like it.

Read and Review

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_The entire group, with the exception of Jack, was oblivious to what was going on; then again the group was made up entirely of guys. Jack watched the two, they were so adorable together. Rory was basically sitting between Tristan's legs and leaning her head against his chest while he had his arms wrapped around her. Jack saw Tristan lean in to say something to her, _but they couldn't be more oblivious if they tried…

_Tristan brushed a piece of hair away from her cheek, he whispered to her, "is this bothering you?"_

_The feel of his lips next to her ear, sent shivers down her spine. Rory smiled, took his hand, and intertwined their fingers, "not at all…"

* * *

_

Rory and Tristan stayed like they were for most of the period, each of them looked perfectly content being so close to the other. Even though Tristan had his arms around her waist and Rory was leaning against his chest, they still managed to banter with one another.

They were currently going back and forth about nothing, at least nothing that anyone else could understand. The repartee that they had going attracted the attention of Dr. Brooks, who, for the first time, noticed exactly what position the two teens were in.

Rory happened to look over at Dr. Brooks when he caught sight of them. She smiled and softly said to Tristan, "Hey tweedle, look at Brooks' face."

Tristan glanced at their teacher, it was priceless. Brooks' eyes were all but bulging out of his head and his jaw had literally dropped. Tristan couldn't help but chuckle at Dr. Brooks.

Rory's voice brought his attention back to her, "so what do you think Brooks thinks is going on between us?"

"He obviously thinks you guys are having sex." Jack had just walked up and heard Rory's comment.

"WHAT!" Rory's voice reached the level only dogs can hear.

Jack smirked at Tristan, who was grinning behind Rory's back.

"Duh…"

"how is **_any _**part of that statement 'duh'?"

Jack sat down on the stool across the table from them and gave Rory a look that said 'I cant believe you need me to explain this to you.'

"You guys are always so affectionate all the time," Jack paused and motioned to them, "I mean look at you right now!"

Through clenched teeth, Rory spat out, "Elaborate."

Jack sighed and glanced at Tristan. He knew that Tristan understood what he was talking about, it was hard not to comprehend it.

"If I saw two students acting like the two of you are acting right now, I would think they were having sex."

Rory put her head in her hands, turned, and buried herself in Tristan's chest. She let out a frustrated sigh and mumbled into him, "great…" Tristan moved his arms around her and gently stroked her back, attempting to calm her down.

Tristan and Jack were so busy calming Rory down that neither of them noticed that a student had come into the room.

* * *

Catherine opened the door to the classroom expecting to see students sitting at their desks taking notes, what she saw was what could only be described as organized chaos.

Her eyes instantly scanned the room, looking for her best friend, and hoping that she wasn't with Tristan. It didn't matter to her how well the two of them got along, she still didn't like or trust him. Catherine had been told on numerous occasions that Tristan and Rory had a unique relationship, and that the bond between them couldn't be described, you had to see it to understand it.

Tristan's reputation as a player was enough to make Catherine dislike him; she found it hard to believe that Tristan could act as sweetly to Rory as she had been told he did and still manage to have the reputation that he did.

When Catherine spotted Rory, she did a double take at the scene playing out before her. Tristan's arms were wrapped around Rory, who had one of her huge smiles on. The two were talking back and forth, obviously comfortable with one another. Catherine saw Jack say something to the two and then saw Rory seek comfort in Tristan's arms.

The scene set her off.

Tristan's eyes raised and met the ice-cold stare coming from Catherine. He nudged Rory, trying to get her attention, "Mare, we got company, and they don't look very happy…"

Rory lifted her head off Tristan's chest and searched the room. Tristan felt her tense in his arms when she saw Catherine staring at them. "Damn it…"

It was no secret to Tristan that Catherine vehemently disliked him and he could care less, but he knew that it bothered Rory that Catherine was so against their relationship, even though they were only friends.

Catherine started to walk over to the table. Rory began to sink further into Tristan's arms, she was not looking forward to what was about to happen.

Thankfully, the bell rang.

* * *

Rory gathered her books, put them into her backpack, and waited for Tristan; she knew that there was no way he would leave her alone to deal with Catherine, neither would Jack.

She felt Tristan's hand slide onto her back, it was his way of telling her that he was there for her; a surge of comfort washed through her, she needed him.

The pair approached Catherine who had yet to move, Rory tried to circumvent the unavoidable "conversation" that was about to occur by employing small talk.

"Hey Catherine, what are you doing here?"

Her eyes narrowed at Tristan's hand, "I came to see you." She paused "I didn't think that _he _would be here."

Tristan's hand moved to Rory's waist and pulled her closer when she let out an overwhelmed sigh. "You knew he was in my class, there's no possible way you could forget that, so don't act like you did, and could you please drop the attitude!"

Jack looked at the two girls, it was obvious that this was going to be another fight and he wanted to get it out of the school building where the gossip bees would catch wind of it and spread the rumors like wildfire.

He cleared his throat, "hey, uhh, guys? I suggest we relocate this little discussion elsewhere because I doubt either of you want the rumor mills getting wind of it."

Tristan took Rory out of the classroom, never letting go of her. Catherine turned on her heel and followed the pair out to the parking lot, which was now deserted.

The second the group reached Tristan's car Catherine fired a question at Rory. "Why are you still friends with him? What could you possibly see in him?"

Rory stepped away from the security of Tristan's arms; she knew this was a battle she had to fight on her own. "What is your problem with him? Tristan is an important part of my life; he's been one of my closest friends for almost seven years, he was an amazing boyfriend for almost six months, and now he's my friend!"

"My problem with him is that he doesn't just want to be your friend. He has the reputation of being a player, he didn't get that for no reason Rory! He uses girls, and he's going to use you too!"

Rory's eyes narrowed at Catherine, "How can you judge him when you don't even know him? You're basing your assumptions off rumors that you've heard around school. Catherine you know that rumors are hardly ever true and that trying to fight them only makes them worse. You've never even seen the two of us together, the way we interact, so how can you draw conclusions about my relationship with Tristan?"

"What the hell does it matter if I've never seen the two of you together?"

Jack finally spoke up, he watched the two of them every day, seeing them was everything. "Because you cant possibly understand them until you've seen them. The way they banter back and forth is a skill few people can rival. Tristan knows Rory extremely well, he knows how to make her smile, laugh, roll her eyes, he knows what buttons to push to piss her off. He knows her and she knows him. If you've never seen them argue, then you've never seen their relationship."

He took a breath and then started again. "And if you haven't seen them, then you couldn't possibly know how much he cares about her."

Before Catherine could respond to Jack, Rory interrupted, her voice was laced with anger. "Catherine, I never asked you to like Tristan, all I asked was that you accept that he is a part of my life that is not going away. I asked that you accept our relationship and not make me feel like crap about it. But you cant do that! You don't seem to get how much it kills me that you don't even try to accept him because he's important to me, all you care about is the picture that our school has painted of him. I have never done this to you, I have always accepted a guy you liked and gotten to know them. I may not have always liked the person, but I was civil and I **_never _**made you feel like crap about the relationship, I never did what you're doing to me right now. If you would open your eyes you would see that he and I get along amazingly well, you would see that he cares about me, you would see his arm around my waist, you would see him being there for me. But your too stubborn to look at what's right in front of you!"

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**Read and Review!**


	4. Note

Hey guys, look I am soooooooooooooo sorry about the lack of updates, but I have a good excuse. My laptop got a virus and kept crashing every time I turned it on so I couldn't get to the stories. I finally got it working long enough to put the stories on my flash drive so I can work on them on my desktop.

Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to write much, if I can write at all, over the next two weeks. For those of you who are in high school or have graduated, AP exams are for the next two weeks and you know that means massive studying. Believe me I'd much rather write than study for the 4 exams I have to take but I want to do well on them.

Again, I'm really sorry about the lack of new chapters, but I have a billion ideas in my head and I promise that as soon as AP's are over, I will update.

Court


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